Behind The Legends
by Tagermeister
Summary: Some people call Freyja Shepard a hero and a legend If you tell her that she would tell you something very different. A look at what is behind a legend. Slightly A/U based on what if Councillor Sparatas was right. That Sovereign was nothing more than a prototype dreadnought . Rated M for some traumatic and brutal events in Freyja's past and for some sexual content down the road
1. Rescuing the new recruit

The cold metallic walls of the interrogation room where a stark contrast to the jungle, which was only several meters above. A raven haired women was slumped in the lone metal chair, bruised, battered and naked, her hands bound behind her by nanopolymer cuffs. She could hear the muffled sound of boots striding along the corridor. She raised her head as the door slid open.

"Sir, we've found her," came an unfamiliar voice. Was this some form of psychological torture? Give her hope that I might be rescued? The woman sniffed at the thought of a rescue, she had been held captive for god knows how long, and every day had been a regime of systematic, brutal torture. She had long given up the hope of leaving this place alive, then there was another voice. No not a voice, radio chatter.

"Yes sir. She seems to be under some kind of sedation," the unfamiliar voice spoke again. His voice was followed by more radio chatter. "I'll have the field medic take a look at her now, but she's really banged up sir." Then there were hands examining her, feeling along her limbs. She knew she had multiple broken bones but couldn't feel them anymore, the sedation was always enough to dull the pain until the next round of torture. The hands lifted her head, a gasp came from in front of her face and her head was let go.

She could hear the whispering before the unfamiliar voice came back clear, "Sir, she has multiple fractures, contusions, deep tissue lacerations and she has lost both of her eyes. Request for immediate medevac." She must have been hallucinating, it sounded like she was being rescued. She felt her hand being freed from their bindings, her arms falling limply to her sides.

"Okay, this is going to put you to sleep. Don't worry, when you wake up you will be safe and sound," another voice came from behind her. She could barely nod before she felt the pressure of a hypostim being pressed against her neck, and then the cold embrace of unconsciousness.

Dr Karl Rossenbaum had been with the SSV Orizaba for several years. He'd seen everything from plasma burns to shrapnel riddled bodies, but nothing prepared him for the state of the woman that had come in on medevac from the planet's surface.

"You're telling me this is how you found her Corporal Jenkins? In all respects she should be dead," the doctor said, sounding both amazed and horrified. Amazed that anyone could survive such horrific injuries, and horrified at the same time that someone could inflict them.

Corporal Jenkins just shrugged, "What can I say doc that's the legend herself Commander Shepard. The hero of the Skyllian Blitz. The one reason Elysium is still standing as a city and not a ransacked shell."

Dr Rossenbaum looked over the scarred, sleeping form of the woman. He's right he thought. Here lies the hero of humanity. The woman who engaged a Batarian slave raid on Elysium single handed and won. All Dr Rossenbaum could do now was treat the physical trauma and hoped she pulled through.

* * *

It had been six months since Shepard had been transferred to the Lazarus facility. Here she was being treated for her more severe injuries. The person in charge of her treatment was Dr Miranda Lawson a brilliant physician, surgeon and biotechnology scientist. She had just finished her last set of simulations on a secondary project, and was heading to the PT room to check in on Shepard's rehabilitation. It had gone slow at first, having to learn how to walk again after having her skeleton rebuilt, but it had quickly progressed at an astonishing pace.

Miranda stopped in front of the PT room, fixing an errant strand of hair back into place before she stepped through the doors. She looked around and found Shepard running a sparring simulation. Miranda raised an eyebrow and wondered who gave her clearance to use it, especially as she was running a biotic CQC simulation of three asari commandos. What was more surprising was that she was the one on the offensive, weaving in and out of the biotic infused strikes the holographic commandos threw at her, dodging by a hairs breadth before counter striking with vicious precision. It was like watching a ballet of war, graceful yet visceral.

Miranda pressed the intercom of the simulation suite and cleared her throat, "Ahem. I don't believe I've given you clearance to use this Shepard," Miranda was annoyed at the fact that Shepard had yet again disobeyed another direct instruction of no strenuous physical exercise, yet was astounded by the speed at which the augmentations she had been given were adapting. Thinking back to the wreck Shepard's body had been six months ago, and the amount of work it had taken to get her stable, the name of the facility had never been more appropriate.

Shepard delivered a final biotic punch to the last Asari's chest and ended the simulation, before picking up the towel and wiping the sweat that was pouring from her face and neck. The thin white vest clung to her body, accenting the lean corded muscle of her abdomen. She stepped through the door into the main workout room and stared down Miranda, the irises of her new augmented eyes seeming to shift like liquid mercury, "You didn't give me permission Doc. I just happened to copy your pass code to my limited omni-tool from yours while you were seeing another patient," Shepard said coolly, "You must have forgot to lock it from outside access."

Miranda exhaled slowly, she didn't want to get caught up in Shepard's pace. She made a mental note to increase the security on her omni-tool and to have Shepard's taken away, not like it would stop her from accessing the training room since she would probably just manually override it anyway, "Good thing you are who you are Shepard, or I would have had you sedated last month," Miranda stared icily at Shepard, "You have some very important visitors, so I came to see if you were up to it which it seems you are."

Shepard tossed the towel over her shoulder and didn't say anything for a few moments. Her expression hardened slightly before she simply nodded and began to head for the showers, "I will be in the visiting room in 10 minutes," she shouted back over her shoulder and disappeared into the locker room.

Ten minutes later Shepard was sitting in a visitation room with three men, one she knew personally. Captain David Anderson, her former CO before being transferred to N7 black ops Shadow infiltration group. The other two gentlemen she recognised from the award ceremony when she had be presented with the Star of Terra, Admiral Steven Hackett and the human Ambassador to the Citadel Donnel Udina.

"Shepard, glad to see you up and about. Although it's hard to believe that just six months ago you were almost a lost cause," Anderson nodded, "I don't want to even imagine what it must have been like being held captive by Batarian slave enforcers."

"Yes, that must have left you with some scars Shepard. Not just physical ones either," Udina stated, "Are you sure you are ready to be discharged?"

Shepard's eyes fixated on the Ambassadors. He was trying to force a reaction from her, she could tell that much but the question that floated around in her mind was why, "Ambassador I am more than fit for release. Only question is what I do during my retirement," Shepard said flatly.

"Yes, I had heard you were retiring from active duty Shepard," Anderson said, his voice tinged with remorse, "It's hard to see the SA's best soldier leave us. Just wish it was under better circumstances."

Shepard leaned back slightly, watching Hackett's reaction from the corner of her eye. The old Admiral had been silent since he had greeted her. Hackett shifted in his seat, leaning forward and clasping his hands together.

"Me too Anderson, but then that makes me wonder why you three are here. I'm not that important to warrant a personal visit from the Admiral of the fifth fleet, humanities Ambassador to the council and a SA Navy captain.," Shepard's voice sounding dry like kindling.

"Which brings us to why we're here Shepard," Hackett's voice rumbled, "Have you heard of Eden Prime Shepard?"

Shepard recognised the name of humanities furthest colony from Sol. From what she had heard it was a beautiful planet but she hadn't actually been there, "I've heard of it Admiral, why something special about it that I should visit?" Shepard's voice staying calm and level while her mind whirred into motion. What could have happened there that would require her old CO, an Admiral of the fleet and the human Ambassador? This meeting wasn't making much sense.

Hackett carried on despite Shepard's thinly veiled sarcasm, "We actually don't know Shepard. We lost contact with the colony nine hours ago. Complete system wide jamming, any drones we send in have gone dark as soon as they exit the relay," Hackett explained, "We're here to ask for your help. We know your record Shepard. We need to know what's happening on that planet and you are the only shot we have."

"The Admirals right Shepard, of all the resources we have you are the only one that has a chance at getting the job done," Anderson stepped in, "It's crucial we get your help."

Shepard closed her eyes. She was already retired as far as the SAMC was concerned, just a civilian recuperating in hospital and yet here they were asking, no begging for her help. What else could she do? It wasn't like she had a whole load of skill sets. Shepard was good at two things, hiding in plain sight and killing. That's what her heroic career boiled down to, a military wet work squad. At least this was just intelligence gathering, what harm could it bring? "Fine, I'll take the mission but I will be on a civilian contract. I don't take orders from anyone but Anderson, understood?" Shepard folded her arms as she gave her answer.

"Agreed Shepard, you will be stationed on Captain Anderson's new post, the SSV Normandy. She will be able to get you into the system undetected. Also you will be going in as a three man squad of your choosing once aboard," Hackett smoothly agreed. Shepard didn't like the fact she would be taking two marines with her but it was better than a full fire team.

"Fine Admiral, I'll assume you've already made arrangements for my discharge from the Lazarus facility?" Shepard asked, wondering how far had they planned ahead in the hopes of getting her on board. Anderson would have told them that she would be going stir crazy in hospital.

Udina flashed a slimy smile and nodded, "Of course Shepard, I'd anticipated you would eventually agree and took the liberty of having you discharged this afternoon. A shuttle will arrive to take you to a frigate for your transfer to the Normandy."

With their business concluded, the three visitors rose from their seats and made their exit. Anderson stopping short at the door and turned back, "Glad to have you aboard Shepard. It'll be like the good old times."

Anderson chuckled to himself and left, leaving Shepard with more questions than answers, but this was something she had gotten used to as an infiltrator, only getting the barest of details to survive a mission. It was why she had put in her retirement application as soon as she was conscious four months ago. Well for now there wasn't much more to be done than clear her foot locker and annoy Dr Lawson one last time by hacking her omni-tool and leaving a little good bye message.


	2. Sometimes things get complicated

The SSV Normandy was the SA's only stealth frigate in the fleets. A culmination of the best Human and Turian ship designers. It was state of the art and could disappear from all known scanners in the blink of an eye. Shepard had arrived an hour earlier and was currently making her way to navigation. She had spent the last 30 minutes going over the active duty roster for the marine detachment and had decided on who she was going to take with her groundside. In fact she was on her way to take a quick look at her first choice, Lieutenant Kaiden Alenko, powerful L2 biotic versed in info and tech warfare. The other was Corporal Richard Jenkins, a soldier through and through. Shepard had found out a little later from Anderson that Jenkins was the first on the scene of her rescue and she made a mental note to thank him personally after the mission, didn't want any unnecessary thoughts distracting the young Corporal.

As Shepard reached navigation she could hear raised voices coming from the door. She stepped through slowly, hoping she wouldn't have to break up a fight only to find Lt Alenko beside himself in a fit of laughter while the navigator was almost foaming at the mouth over something.

"So tell me, why do you hate Nihlus again joker?" the Lt asked. "Especially when he just complimented you"

"Hey, me remembering to zip up after I take a piss is good. Hell even Greico's cooking can be considered good. Piloting a mass effect tunnel half way across the galaxy and landing on a point the size of the proverbial pin head is amazing, you know just saying, Alenko" replied Joker in a display of great sarcasm.

Shepard had to give the Flight Lieutenant credit, he certainly had a flare for sarcasm. Although it got her to wondering why there was a Turian on board in the first place. Sure it's a vessel designed in part by the Turian military but it was an Alliance vessel, something didn't add up and that put Shepard on edge.

"Any way, a Turian is bad news. Especially when they also happen to be a SpecTRe." Joker continued with sign of letting his perceived grievance go. "Trust me there's something more to this recon mission than the Captain is letting us know"

Shepard had to agree with him there. It felt like there was something missing, like a jigsaw puzzle without the middle pieces. She could only make the outline of the picture but could get the details. It was starting to give her a bad feeling, the same kind of feeling she got when the power grid of Elysium went out before the raid began. She had learned to trust that feeling and it told her this mission was just the start.

"Joker I'm sure the Captain will tell us anything we need to know when we need to know." Alenko tried to cut through Jokers conspiracy theory. "Right now you just focus on the ship and leave the worrying to the Commander back there".

Joker tilted his head round to see Shepard standing behind him, arms folded with a very faint smile playing on her lips and groaned. "Great now the Legend herself thinks I'm some nut bar, well let me tell you I have good reason to be suspicious of that overgrown bird. He's a SpecTRe, pretty much a ghost that only answers to the council." Joker suddenly became pretty animated. If only he knew about the Shadow unit in N7, Shepard thought to herself, he would have a field day.

"I have to agree with Joker. Something isn't right about the Turian but I guess we will get our answers from Anderson at the briefing." Shepard interjected. She didn't want to disregard Jokers opinion but decided to keep what she thought to herself.

"Joker status report." Came Anderson over the coms.

"Yes sir. We just cleared the Mass Relay, stealth drives engaged. Everything looks solid" Replied Joker, the sarcasm evidently non applicable to Anderson.

"Good, find a com-buoy and link us into the network. I want reports sent back to Alliance brass before we reach Eden Prime". Anderson ordered.

"Aye-aye Captain, better brace yourself, Nihlus is heading your way" Joker mentioned.

"He's already here lieutenant" Anderson replied, sounding more than displeased. "Tell Shepard to meet me in the com room for briefing".

Joker grimaced, bouncing his head back into the head rest. Shepard couldn't help but smile, it was nostalgic being on a crew with Anderson again. He hadn't lost his touch for taking on the best, brightest and sometimes not so formal crew members. "Did you get that Shepard?" Joker asked.

Shepard straightened her expression, hiding the smile behind a straight face. "Yeah I got it Joker, thanks for pissing him off before the mission briefing by the way" Shepard shot the light hearted barb at Joker.

"Hey the Captain's always in a pissy mood" Joker retorted weakly. "So don't blame me."

"Ahh that's only when he speaks to you Joker" Alenko commented quickly causing another round of what Shepard could only assume was light hearted arguing. She shook her head and made her way to the com room behind the CIC.

As the door to the com room slid open, Nihlus was standing in front of the holoprojector staring at a picture of Eden Prime. Shepard stopped in her tracks, wondering why the Council SpecTRe was here instead of Anderson. Nihlus spun on his heel and gestured for Shepard to come in. "Shepard I was hoping you would arrive first. We haven't had a chance to talk since you boarded." The dual tone of the translator sounding almost as if two people were speaking at the same time.

Shepard folded her arms across her chest, taking her time before replying. "Even though we haven't, as you put it, had time to talk you seem to always be where I'm heading. Why are you watching me?" Shepard wanted answers and it just might be faster to get them from the Turian than Anderson.

Nihlus ignored Shepard's question. "Tell me Shepard, what do you know about Eden Prime? I heard it's the symbol of Humanity's growth as a space faring species but is Humanity ready for the dangers that lurk in the cold, dark reaches of space?" Nihlus' mandibles clicked as he stared hard into Shepard's eyes, as if looking for the answer before she can speak.

"I have only heard the name Nihlus. As far as I know it's a farming colony in the furthest reaches of Alliance space." Shepard replied smoothly. "With regards to how ready Humanity is when it comes to the dangers of the galaxy, I will say one thing to you. If that is a threat then you will find out for yourself." Shepard returned Nihlus' stare with one of her own.

After what felt like an eternity the door of the com room slide open again. "Nihlus, I think it's time we told Shepard the main reason she is here don't you?" Anderson's voice broke the dead lock. "Before we lost contact with Eden Prime and the rest of the system a science team had uncovered something planet side. They found a Prothean beacon. Originally this was to be a pick up mission to test the ships stealth drives but things change."

"A Prothean beacon? I thought the Prothean's died out 50,000 years ago." Shepard stated. "Anything from back then would just be junk." She didn't see the point in using a state of the art war ship for just to pick up some archaeologists wet dream. No there was more they weren't telling her but she would find out one way or another.

"Wrong Shepard. Everything we use now is based from working Prothean technology that has been uncovered in dig sites." Nihlus corrected her. "The Mass relays, the Citadel, Mass Effect cores even the fine tuning of biotics is from Prothean data troves much like your Mars library"

"This discovery is big Shepard. Last time Humanity discovered something like this we jumped ahead in technology 200 years. We couldn't let this opportunity fall by the way side." Anderson continued. "This also goes beyond just Humanity. Whatever is on that beacon could forward galactic civilization by hundreds of years"

"Which is one of the reasons I am here Shepard." Nihlus added.

"So there is more than one reason?" Shepard questioned, still not entirely convinced that the Normandy or the Turian would have been needed for this mission. "Can I assume it has something to do with you stalking me at every turn for the last hour?"

"You're right Shepard. Nihlus is also here to evaluate you on this mission." Anderson explained, placing his hands behind his back. "The council has finally come to the decision that Humanity is finally ready to enter the SpecTRes, the councils own special operations unit. This is a big mile stone in our history and the top brass of the SA recommended you Shepard."

Shepard was stunned. They recommended her to be part of another elite special ops group? This time with the whole galaxy as her jurisdiction. Never mind the fact that she was retired, there were plenty of better candidates that she could reel off hand from personal experience. "Anderson you know I'm retired, why would they recommend me at all. What about Major Kyle? He is a better choice than me, has more experience with ship to ship battle and went above and beyond his duty on Torfan, losing 80% of his unit taking the power station to bring down the AA guns"

"Kyle has been evaluated to be a cat six washout, Shepard. He couldn't handle the pressure of command anymore and had a meltdown in the field." Anderson countered. "And with your skills you are a lot more suited to SpecTRe work than any soldier I know."

"I would have to agree with the Captain" Nihlus added. "Your actions on Ellyisum prove your skill beyond measure. Holding off a Batarian slave raid single handed for 23 hours until support arrived makes you an undeniable hero in the eyes of many but more than anything you know that it sometimes take sacrifice to get the job done and that is why I agreed with the recommendation."

"You agreed with me joining the SpecTRe unit?" Shepard questioned Nihlus. "Why would a Turian want a Human as a SpecTRe."

"Shepard I don't care if you're Human. All I care is if you can do the job and from what I've read from your file you're pretty much a SpecTRe already." Nihlus stated flatly. "Regardless, I will be observing you on this recon mission as well as others to assess your skills in leadership and combat. I expect good things from you Shepard."

Shepard's mind began reeling from the mass of info she just gained. The original mission parameters could be dealt with rationally but the fact they wanted her to be a SpecTRe shocked her. She almost didn't have the option of refusal, everything had been set in motion without her even knowing. Just as Shepard was about to try and refuse Joker cut in over the comms.

"Captain, I got an incoming transmission from Eden Prime" Joker relayed quickly.

"Patch it through to the com room joker" Anderson ordered

"Aye-aye Captain, patching it through now" replied Joker

The transmission was grainy, coming from a helmet camera. A quad of marines were currently engaged in a fierce fire fight, one of them diving across to pull down the cameraman into cover. The marines were taking a pounding, losing ground slowly. The three viewers watched in cold silence as a marine had a hole bored straight through his helmet, a blooming red and grey mist exiting the back. Another marine managed to get across to the camera and was shouting for medevac as they had sustained heavy casualties and then the camera panned to the sky, a massive shadow covering the centre of the horizon before the transmission is cute short.

"Joker, status report" Anderson barked.

"Transmission is being jammed planet side Captain. We are 17 minutes out and the only Alliance ship in range." Joker responded immediately.

"Takes us in Joker fast and quiet" Anderson ordered, his voice turning stern. "This mission just got a lot more complicated."

"A small strike team can move fast and quiet" Nihlus offered his tactical assessment. "No more than the three man squad we were originally going to go with."

"Agreed, Shepard tell Alenko and Jenkins to suit up. You three are going in, make sure you have your preparations ready in 10 minutes I want you ready for drop off ASAP." Anderson turned to Shepard. "You will be going in blind so take no unnecessary risks and get to that beacon."

"Aye-aye Anderson" Shepard replied, her mind geared for combat switched off all unnecessary thoughts as she stared back at the still image of the shadow, her mercurial eyes hardening before leaving to make her preparations.  
-

**Ok so I kind of forgot to add an authors note in chapter 1 thanks to the crazy time i uploaded it (think it was like 2 am) so I'll put this here. This is my first serious attempt at writing this as I have had the idea toying around in my head for a while but never got around to writing it so all constructive criticism is welcome. i ill be hoping to pump out a chapter every week, possibly more if the creative juices are flowing as they are now :D. The story will follow canon for the next chapter or so with a slight twist on the beacon itself and then will slowly diverge from the main story of the ME series into what I hope you, yes you, the reader**** will find a thrilling alternative to all out war. There will be shadowy dealings, espionage and a few brutal flash backs as Shepard will have to revisit the choices she has made in that come back to haunt her but next up Chapter 3 the battle on Eden Prime.**


	3. Here come the MIB's

Chapter 3 MIB

"Argggh fuck," yelled Serviceman Jeremiah Franklin while his fellow squad mate, Nirali Bhatia, attempted to pop his dislocated shoulder back into place.

"Damn it Bhatia you could have warned me before you tried to wrench my arm off completely," Franklin groaned, as he rotated his shoulder and grimaced, it hurt like hell but at least he could hold his weapon again.

"I'll take that as a thank you Franklin," Nirali scowled over her shoulder, "Next time don't get blind-sided by one of those guys and I won't have to pick up the pieces."

Nirali left Franklin to grumble to himself about her being some kind of gorilla woman, and crept her way up to where Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams was keeping watch at the window of the prefab they had taken shelter in, "You spot anything Gunny?"

Williams turned to face her squad mate, seeing the fatigue reflected in Nirali's face. It had been ten hours since the first explosion went off, and her and her squad mates had been on the move ever since. They were supposed to secure the dig site, but that had been when her squad were seven strong, now it was just the three of them.

"Nope I've not seen any more MIB's either," Williams whispered. MIB, that's what they had named the raiders that had attacked Eden Prime. It stood for Mercs in Black which is what they were. A large force of Turian, Krogan, Salarian and Batarian soldiers equipped with black armour with no identifying symbols, even their visors were polarized black.

When Williams's squad first engaged them, they had tried to remove one of the helmets to see who they were up against. As soon as the helmet locking clamps had been disconnected from the suit the body exploded, taking Werner and Yamashita with it. This frightened Williams more than anything. What kind of organization does that to its own dead? Uses them as a weapon, it sickened her to the stomach.

"Ok get ready you two, we need to keep pushing ahead to the rendezvous point," Williams said, unclipping her Lancer from its magnetic back mount, "We leave in two."

* * *

The Normandy cargo bay was buzzing with activity, with Shepard and the squad stood ready for their drop off by the cargo bay doors. Captain Anderson made his way over to them, it was close to jump time and he wanted to give the three soldiers some words of encouragement before being dropped into a hot zone.

"I know that this is going to be a difficult mission. You'll be up against a force much larger than you but if you three cover each other's backs, then you will come out of this unscathed," Anderson said, "Now I know that this is your home colony Corporal but you need to keep a level head in the field or it could cost you the mission or worse your life."

"Sir, yes sir," Jenkins barked back, "Permission to speak freely sir?"

"Go ahead marine" ,Anderson nodded.

"Sir, you said if us three cover each other's backs, what about Nihlus? Isn't he coming with us?" Jenkins questioned and looked over to the armoury bay where Nihlus was finishing preparations.

"He's here as an observer only. He'll be infiltrating ahead of you and providing support via reconnaissance," Anderson replied as the SpecTRe joined them.

"That's correct, I'll move ahead and feed you data on troop movement," Nihlus added as the bay doors opened, Eden Primes horizon whizzing past at a dizzying speed, "Besides, I move much faster on my own," flashing what passes as a Turian smile he jumped over the edge and disappeared.

Alenko shifted slightly in his spot and spoke up, "Sir, what about survivors. Are they an objective for the mission?"

"Negative Lieutenant. The beacon is your only objective," Answered Anderson, "Retrieve it at all cost. Your jump point is in two minutes, you'd better get ready."

Anderson turned and headed for the cargo elevator back to the CIC. Shepard still had an uncomfortable feeling about the mission, like a mosquito bite she can't scratch. She was going into a hot zone with no intel with a marine whose home-town was the hot zone itself and a Turian SpecTRe who was only on station to provide secondary recon information. Yeah she should have stuck with retirement.

"Alenko, Jenkins, make sure your suits are sealed and your shield generators are on maximum output. I don't want any nasty surprises taking us down when our feet hit the ground," Shepard ordered with the sound of "Aye-aye" thrown back at her in perfect unison.

Shepard watched her two squad mates carefully, Alenko was fine but Jenkins concerned her. His face looked calm but she noticed a tell in his body language, he was fidgeting with the safety on his Lancer. "Jenkins come here a second," she motioned him to come closer.

"Yes ma'am?" Jenkins asked innocently.

The kid doesn't even realise he's angry, Shepard thought to herself.

"Jenkins, I know this is your home but we are about to get dropped into the hottest zone I've been in since Elysium," Shepard spoke softly, putting a hand on the young soldier's shoulder and looking him in the eyes, "But I need you to keep your cool when we're down there, understand? Both me and the Lieutenant are trusting you with our backs and we need you frosty."

Jenkins nodded, his thumb settling under the safety button. Shepard nodded towards the opening cargo doors "Alright, let's get this beacon."

* * *

"Gunny watch out!" shouted Nirali, pushing Williams down into cover before being riddled with holes.

Williams scrambled down the dig site ramp way taking cover behind one of the pillars. She blind fired back up the ramp, hoping to catch one of the black armoured hostiles. The return gunfire was like a storm of plasma pummeling the pillar, threatening to disintegrate at a moment's notice. Rounds whizzed past William's helmet, a few clipping her shields. She needed to get out of there now or Nirali's death would have been for nothing.

Williams peeked from behind the pillar in between volleys of gunfire, and counted how many hostiles there were. OK there's six of them and one of me, not my favourite odds but I'll take em', Williams thought to herself. Peeking back out of cover and firing a burst of Lancer fire, dropping one of her assailants before they returned fire, One down, five to go.

The Merc squad continued their concentrated fire on William's cover, slowly whittling it away and forcing her to dive to the pillar on her left. She couldn't take on the five attackers, if she was going to make out alive she had to make a run for the woodland on the outskirts of the colony . William's checked her grenade belt, one grenade left, this was going to be her one shot at surviving. She picked her moment, waiting for the Mercs to gather closer to her position before tossing the grenade in among them. She had set the detonator to proximity and waited the half a second for the explosion to go off before sprinting for the surrounding woodland.

* * *

"Jenkins, get down now!" Shepard yelled but it was too late. Jenkins had been caught in a storm of gunfire, leaving a large, angry wet hole where his chest should have been. Shepard leaned out from cover and let her Lancer rip, the ugly bark of automatic fire resounding through the quiet woodland, taking down the gunman who took down Jenkins. Alenko caught two of the black clad hostiles in a biotic lift and suspended them high, picking them off with his Predator pistol.

The skirmish was over as quickly as it had begun, the ambient quiet almost deafening after the gunfire. Jenkins lay where he fell, chest torn to shreds, blood pooling quickly around him. Alenko leaned down, closing his eyes to show his respects.

"Poor kid, he should've never taken point. He wasn't experienced enough regardless of if he knew the area," Alenko said to himself somberly, his voice tinged with regret.

"Don't let it shake you Alenko, we need to keep moving and get that beacon," Shepard said coldly.

"With all due respect Ma'am, Jenkins deserves a moment of silence and a tag so that we can come back and make sure he gets a decent burial," Alenko spoke out, shocked that the woman who had taken the time to make sure Jenkins had his head straight before the mission could be this cold now.

Shepard stepped up to Alenko's chest, her silvery eyes firing a cold stare into his dark brown ones. "With all due respect Lieutenant," Shepard shot back, "I would rather leave his body to rot and finish this mission than waste my time with tagging him for burial which might mean letting the bastards responsible for turning his home into a war zone escape and losing the beacon he just lost his life for. Now which do you think he would prefer," with that Shepard jogged off towards the settlement, leaving Alenko having to almost sprint to catch up.

As the duo came up to the tree line they came across a surviving Marine being chased by two black armoured assailants. The woman had managed to get into cover behind a rock formation just as her pursuers opened fire, the ground exploding where her feet had been only five seconds earlier.

Shepard nodded towards two outcroppings just at the edge of the trees, signalling Alenko to take position behind the one on the far side. The two positioned themselves and waited for the enemy to get closer to the surviving marine before revealing themselves via lethal crossfire. The two hostiles scrambled back towards the archway they had come through, giving the marine an opening to lean out and gun them down, landing a head shot on one causing it to explode like a tomato.

Shepard vaulted from her cover and jogged over to the female marine, Alenko bringing up the rear. She holstered her Lancer on her back and approached the woman who had slid down to the floor against the rock she had taken cover behind, offering her hand out to the exhausted marine, who took it gladly and pulled herself to her feet.

"Thanks for the save, if you didn't turn up when you did I would have ended up like the rest of my squad," the lone marine panted.

"We happened to be in the area marine", Shepard shrugged, "Are you the only survivor?"

"Of my squad? Yeah, I survived thanks to a good friend's sacrifice," replied the marine bitterly, "I don't know about the colony though, they should have been evacuated to the space-port."

Shepard frowned, if this woman was the last marine in the colony then it made it hard to mount a counter offensive. The mission took precedence but she couldn't leave the colonists alone to fight an unknown force. Anderson didn't specifically say they couldn't sweep the route they were taking for survivors. Shepard look over to Alenko then back to the marine, they were a man down and could use her help.

"What's your name marine," Shepard asked.

"Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the 313, Ma'am," Williams answered, standing to attention on instinct.

"OK Chief, me and Lieutenant Alenko here have orders to recover the Prothean beacon that was uncovered here. You have an idea where the dig site is?," Shepard inquired.

"The dig site? Thats back that way," Williams pointed behind her back towards where the Mercs had tried to take cover, "But that's where I came through but I didn't see the beacon."

"Any Idea where the beacon was taken?" Alenko questioned.

"Probably to the spaceport with the rest of the evacuees LT," Williams replied, "You need to head up the ramp to the cargo transport but it's full of MIB's."

"MIB's? Is that who attacked the colony Williams?" Shepard asked, hoping to gain some information on the faceless enemy.

"No Idea what they call themselves Ma'am, it's what my squad was calling them, you know on account of the all black. It stands for Mercs In Black," Williams almost spat, anger rising like molten metal.

Ok, so we both know nothing about these guys, Shepard thought to herself. This was more than a three-man infiltration team was supposed to handle, well a two-man squad with Jenkins down. Shepard began heading towards the dig site, Alenko falling in a few paces behind and to the left of her. "By the way, the names Shepard, Williams, you coming or are you going to stand there and wallow in self-pity about your squad", Shepard threw back over her shoulder.

Williams blinked in shock, taken aback by the revelation that she had been saved by her personal hero before shaking it off. "Try and stop me Ma'am," Williams shouted back, flipping the safety on her Lancer. "Time for some payback."

* * *

**A/N **

**Thanks to Lady Amiee Krios for deciding to help a poor soul and taking on my chapters for beta. On another note the next chapter is going to be combat heavy and I'm hoping to have it out by Wednesday, also going to try and make Kaiden a little less boring as the story goes on but I'm not promising anything :D  
**


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